Earlier tonight we took Brad’s daughter and son-in-law to see “Jersey Boys” at the Palazzo. (Seems like we need out-of-town guests to motivate us to see Strip shows these days!) We all enjoyed the show, not just for the music that we loved but also for this group’s fascinating story, the details with which we hadn’t been familiar.

However, there was unexpected real-life drama on the stage toward the end of the first act. First, a drink was spilled on the floor. That didn’t seem out of place since it was a bar scene. Even when Erich Bergen, playing Bob Gaudio, came rushing onstage and slipped on this wet spot and landed on his behind, he got up and the action continued so we didn’t think anything was amiss.  But then Erich didn't appear with the group for the next number and there was an awkward pause and some adlibbing by the others about when Bob Gaudio would come out. Then all the actors left the stage and there was an announcement that there would be a short intermission. We realized that this was unscripted since there was not an intermission scheduled at this point, and we began wondering if that slip and fall we had just seen was serious.   After a short time, an announcer came on again, saying that Mike Backes (an understudy) would be taking over the part of Bob Gaudio. Our suspicions were confirmed, although no details of the accident were mentioned in the announcement.

Mike did a great job the rest of the evening in the very important part of Bob Gaudio, the songwriter of the group, upholding well the tradition that the show must go on! And he was given a very rousing applause at the end of the show.

Of course, all of us in the audience left wondering how Erich Bergen was and hoping his injury in the fall was not serious.   An employee told me that he had hit his head but it looked to us more like he might have hurt his back. Perhaps we will find out in the news tomorrow?

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